Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts remain bullish: Twenty-five brokerages assign Arista Networks a consensus “Buy” rating, including 22 buys and two strong buys. The average 12-month price target is $225.76, with recent targets rising as high as $250.
• Strong operating performance supports the outlook: Arista beat quarterly expectations with $1.02 in EPS and $3.04 billion in revenue, up 37.7% year over year. The company guided to third-quarter EPS of $1.06–$1.08 amid continued AI and cloud-networking demand.
• Valuation and insider selling are key risks: The stock trades near $193.54 at roughly 61 times earnings, while insiders have sold about $726.7 million of shares over the past three months, mostly through pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans.

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Buy" by the twenty-five brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $225.7619.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and set a $250.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $240.00 price target (up from $181.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Arista Networks from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $175.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kelly Battles sold 422 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.34, for a total value of $79,057.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,194 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,909,743.96. This trade represents a 3.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 13,809 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.79, for a total value of $2,648,428.11. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,901,981.43. This represents a 58.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,782,694 shares of company stock worth $726,728,187. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 321.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,806 shares of the technology company's stock worth $863,000 after purchasing an additional 5,955 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $202,000. Bison Wealth LLC bought a new position in Arista Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $251,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Arista Networks by 48.4% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,723 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 3,496 shares during the period. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 31.3% during the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 4,193 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $429,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Price Performance

NYSE:ANET opened at $193.54 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $182.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $160.16. The stock has a market cap of $244.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.05, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.62. Arista Networks has a 1-year low of $114.52 and a 1-year high of $214.89.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.65% and a net margin of 38.37%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 37.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.73 earnings per share. Arista Networks has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.060-1.080 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Arista Networks will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Trending Headlines about Arista Networks

Here are the key news stories impacting Arista Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Arista’s investment case remains supported by surging AI infrastructure demand, improving supply-chain execution and strong free cash flow. The company’s shares have gained 37.3% over the past six months, although the recent advance has raised questions about how much upside remains. ANET Rises 37.3% in Six Months: Is There More Room to Grow?
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s latest quarterly results provide a fundamental catalyst: adjusted earnings of $1.02 per share exceeded the $0.89 consensus estimate, while revenue of $3.04 billion topped the $2.83 billion forecast and increased 37.7% year over year. Arista guided to third-quarter EPS of $1.06-$1.08. Arista Networks Offers Entry After 42% Gain Amid Earnings Beat; Data Center Demand Surging
• Positive Sentiment: Deutsche Bank initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $220 price target. This adds to a generally favorable analyst view, with a consensus Buy rating and an average target of $225.76; UBS, Jefferies and Morgan Stanley have also cited targets above the current trading range.
• Neutral Sentiment: Arista edged higher even as networking peer Ciena weakened after issuing in-line guidance, suggesting investors may be differentiating ANET based on its stronger AI and cloud-networking growth outlook. Ciena Corporation Tumbles 10% as In-Line Guidance Overshadows Earnings Beat, Arista Edges Higher
• Negative Sentiment: CFO Chantelle Breithaupt sold 612 shares worth approximately $119,811. The transaction reduced her holdings by 0.87%, but it was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, limiting its significance as a bearish signal. Arista’s elevated valuation—about 60 times earnings and a PEG ratio of 2.21—also leaves the stock sensitive to slower growth or weaker guidance.

Arista Networks Company Profile

Arista Networks, Inc is a technology company that designs and sells cloud networking solutions for large-scale data centers and enterprise environments. The company is best known for its high-performance switching and routing platforms, which are used to build scalable, low-latency networks for cloud service providers, internet companies, financial services, telecommunications, and enterprise IT. Arista's offerings emphasize programmability, automation and telemetry to support modern, software-driven network architectures.

Central to Arista's product portfolio is its Extensible Operating System (EOS), a modular network operating system that provides consistent programmability, stateful control and advanced visibility across the company's hardware platforms.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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